1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an image forming apparatus and a computer readable medium.
2. Description of Related Art
In recent years, an image forming system in which a data processing apparatus, such as a personal computer (PC), including an installed printer driver therein controls an image forming apparatus through a communication network, such as a local area network (LAN), has become widely used.
Moreover, Microsoft Corporation announced an electronic document specification called as an XML paper specification (XPS) at the end of 2006. A file of an electronic document in conformity to the XPS (hereinafter referred to as an XPS file) includes font data, image data, text data, and the like, and is generated by performing the ZIP compression of these data files (an XML file, an image file, and the like). That is, an XPS file is a ZIP compression file.
The data processing apparatus performs the ZIP compression of an XML file and an image file to generate an XPS file, and transmits the generated XPS file to the image forming apparatus. The image forming apparatus receives the XPS file, and sequentially executes the ZIP decompression of the XPS file. The image forming apparatus then spools the ZIP-decompressed file data into a storage medium (such as a memory and a hard disk). The image forming apparatus then reads the ZIP-decompressed file data from the storage medium to perform image forming processing.
Moreover, a technique to change the compression rate of print data by judging from a memory capacity at the time of storing the print data into the memory for reprinting was disclosed (Japanese Patent Application Laid-Open Publication No. Hei 11-179977).
Now, because the image forming apparatus cannot know the size of the file data of a ZIP-decompressed (data-decompressed) XPS file at the start of the ZIP decompression of the XPS file, the image forming apparatus will spool the file data into a predetermined storage medium.
Consequently, a situation, in which the file data has been stored in a storage medium (for example, a memory) that has a fast access speed but an insufficient storage capacity and the storage capacity runs short on the way to performing the ZIP decompression processing, has occurred. In this case, the image forming apparatus performs the ZIP decompression processing from the beginning again to store the file data in another storage medium (for example, a hard disk) having a larger storage capacity. Consequently, a delay of the image forming processing results.
Moreover, although there is a storage medium (for example, a memory) having a sufficient storage capacity to store ZIP-decompressed (unzipped) file data and having a fast access speed, the image forming apparatus may store the file data into a storage medium (for example, a hard disk) having a slow access speed, and consequently a delay of the image forming processing would result.
Moreover, if the data size of ZIP-decompressed file data is too large and it is impossible to store the file data in any storage media equipped in the image forming apparatus, the image forming apparatus continues to perform the ZIP decompression processing until the storage capacity overflows. At the time when the storage capacity overflows, the error is detected, and the effect of the overflow is displayed. Consequently, a loss of user's time results.